Abbott said it expects earnings for the full year, excluding special items, of $1.98 to $2.04 per share. Analysts, on average, have forecast $1.95, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The suburban Chicago company issued the forecast as it reported fourth-quarter results.

Abbott, which sells medical devices, diagnostics, nutritional products and generic medicines, spun off its patent-protected drugs into a separate company, AbbVie Inc , which began trading at the beginning of the year.

Abbott said global sales of branded drugs that now belong to AbbVie rose 7.4 percent to $5.14 billion in the fourth quarter. The rise would have been 8.5 percent if not for the stronger dollar, which lowers the value of sales in overseas markets.